Air under fire

[Chicopee Sap Shack]

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Built my air under fire manifold today. Built it at a buddy's metal fab shop and saved huge money. I also have him making my 10" roof jack and a cover for the stack for around $100. Working with local shops and paying in green saves huge money.

Scott


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[Drew Pond Maple]

Does that sit on the arch floor under the grates or do you put the wood directly on it? Not real familiar with auf/aof yet. Looks pretty cool. Nice work

[BreezyHill]

Do you think you have enough outlets so that the pressure on the fan doesn't climb. My system is regular wood grates and I have to much back pressure after I added the second fan.

Drew: Air under will allow air to be directly below the fuel and supply air to burn the fuel.
Air over is used to mix in the hot gases that are not totally burned and ignite them as well. The AOF air is ducted toward the fuel space and above it to mix with the hot gases.

It is a real balancing act to get enough below and above to get the most out of the fuel you are burning. To much below and you cant get enough on top. To little below and the gases are not hot enough to ignite. Not enough pressure above and it wont mix well. To much pressure below and all you do is blow a hole thru the fuel load and then the burn slows to a crawl. Takes a lot of watching the flames and positioning the fuel and fans to get a good burn going.
Its a great tool and is really good to help the wood pile last longer and little to no smoke out the stake.

[Chicopee Sap Shack]

This was a starting point and I can add more if I need to but I didn't want to have to many to start


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[nymapleguy607]

It looks like you made the holes about 1/2" dia. You might find you have a problem with ash plugging the holes on longer boils, try it out and if you have that porblem try drilling evey other hole out to 3/4".

[Chicopee Sap Shack]

Are you guys putting the wood right on the blower box or on grates still?


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[Drew Pond Maple]

Is this going in a conventional arch?

[Chicopee Sap Shack]

Yes


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[Chicopee Sap Shack]

Is is a conventional leader arch


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[Drew Pond Maple]

Did you have to change the arch front and seal up all the little gaps?

[Chicopee Sap Shack]

No I'm using non air tight this year


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[BreezyHill]

Be very careful. I have 2" of insulation blanket on an airtight door and the door still gets hot on my AUF. You may want to have a section of flat stock to cover the front row or two of holes. I have no air within 3 inches of the door and it still gets a lot of heat.